Grasping to his long-standing title, former Downhill National Champion, Colin (Rosco) Ross secured the hat-trick at the weekend after capturing his third win in a row at Red Bull Foxhunt 2016 in Rostrevor, Co Down.
Superb riding conditions and a fast track made for one of the most memorable ‘mass start’ downhill races in Europe as a pack of 400 red-backed riders tore down Slieve Martin in a bid to outrun Red Bull athlete and two-time Downhill World Champion, Gee Atherton.
Gee edged his way past 399 other racers, snapping at the heels of Rosco for much of the race but couldn’t catch the eventual champion as he powered through the unforgiving downhill course to beat Atherton by over 30 seconds.
Rosco (33), from Lisburn, Co Down, was first past the post after 3.5km of hair-raising sprints and treacherous forest trails. Local knowledge proved worthwhile as Rosco secured a record breaking run, finishing in under 6 minutes, the fastest time in Foxhunt history. Gee Atherton improved on his 32nd place finish last year to come runner-up, followed closely by Dublin native Dave Egan who finished third for the second year running.
Ross will now compete alongside Gee Atherton as next years Fox, hunting the rest of the pack to try and claim a fourth consecutive title and his first win as ‘the fox’.
Commenting after Red Bull Foxhunt, Rosco said:
”I felt so much pressure. I do a lot of coaching and all the guys were saying it would be amazing if I could make it three in a row. I didn’t want to let everyone down and I knew it would be a hard race to win so I was really nervous.”
He added, “I tried to play it all calm but it meant so much to me to get the win so I am so relieved."
Speaking to RedBull.com, Gee Atherton said:
“I would have loved to have won it but I couldn’t even see Colin Ross. Fair play to him, he was absolutely hauling. I was stoked to get into the top ten. I can’t wait for next year!”